Four Times Chekov got on McCoy’s Nerves
by Handful of Silence
Summary: ...and The One time the Doctor wanted him to. Sulu/Chekov Bones-Chekov friendship
1. I

** Four Times Chekov got on McCoy's Nerves and The One time the Doctor wanted him to**

**I**

It's not been a good night for McCoy, because yet again he's missed his daughters' birthday. Joanna will be eighteen today and this is a time where he should be there more then ever. She's got her prom to look forward to, serious boyfriends, first car, first job, arguments with her mother about her future (he's not sure whether she's told Marie about wanting to join Starfleet. Bright kid wants to be an officer and he's so proud when she says she wants to go into medicine like her dad) There's all these things for Joanna, all these firsts and he isn't going to be there to see them

Which is why he resents it when Chekov comes into his room, a goofy nervous smile on his face, informing the doctor that the Captain has ordered him to join the celebrations. Bones remembers then that it's the Ensigns eighteenth birthday today too, and that the bridge crew have thrown him surprise party- much to the young mans embarrassment- especially when Bones was there to see Kirk playfully clap the ensign on the shoulder and announce –very loudly- to everyone that Chekov can now go out and get himself laid, with an exaggerated wink at an equally embarrassed Sulu. And this only serves to make Bones resent the kid even more, although the feelings are probably exacerbated by the copious amounts of sythehol in his system. He hates the fact that Chekov reminds him so much of Joanna, from his wide-eyes expression, big blue eyes displaying the sort of youthful innocence that he knows will probably fade with time aboard the enterprise, to the naïve grin plastered across the Russians face. It isn't fair he gets to see this kid grow up and not his Joanna

"Sir?" the kid's speaking to him "Sir, ze Keptin asked me to reqvest your presence..."

"Just leave me alone, kid" McCoy says it so quietly that Chekov can't hear what he's saying

"Sir…?"

"I said, just get out, dammit!" Bones snaps, turning away so he doesn't see the hurt look in Chekov's eyes as the ensign mutters sadly "Aye, sir" and leaves, leaving the doctor to his ghosts


	2. II

**II**

If McCoy had been paying attention, he would have noticed that Pavel Chekov has been outside in the waiting room for well over nine hours, which has been the amount of time the doctor's had Sulu in surgery, trying to reconstruct the lieutenants insides to resemble something other then a war zone from the multiple stab wounds that have been inflicted on him. The helmsman's bloody lucky to be alive, the amount of blood loss alone should have killed him, not to mention the internal bleeding and lung punctures. He's got the lieutenant stable now, and as he leaves the operating bay, he catches sight of the pale Ensign with what looks like Sulu's blood on his usually immaculate uniform. If Bones had asked he would have discovered that Chekov was the one who found Sulu in time, who stayed with the helmsman restricting the blood-loss and keeping pressure on the wounds, talking to Sulu to keep him conscious long enough for the Enterprise to lock onto their signals through the planets natural magnetic interference. He would have found out that Chekov never let go of Sulu hand until Bones ordered him out of the way, so he could attach an IV into his arm, taking Sulu into surgery and leaving the terrified ensign to wait to see if the helmsman would survive. But Bones hadn't asked, so he didn't know

"It's way past you're bedtime kid" he says when he sees Chekov " You've been on an eighteen hour shift on top of this: you should get some sleep"

"Nyet. Is Hikar…. Is Sulu ok?" Chekov asks nervously. It's obvious he's been on tender hooks for hours "Vhere is he? Can I see him?"

"Just get to bed, ensign" McCoy groans, wanting badly to drag himself into his office and nurse some aged Saurian Brandy before retiring. It's been a long day and all he wants to do is sleep. He doesn't have the energy or the patience to answer any and every question the kid might have "Sulu is fine and resting, and I suggest you do the same. You can visit him off-shift tomorrow"

"But…"

"No buts, Ensign…out!" He sees a flash of defiance in the kids eyes and he knows that in any other circumstance Chekov would have held out longer, arguing to stay near Sulu and if Bones had been more awake he would have been impressed at the Russians dedication to Sulu's welfare. But he's not, so he watches the Russian leave before sighing, making his way to his quarters, deciding to skip the brandy altogether.


	3. III

**III**

Bones has never been good with kids. It was different with Joanna, she was his own flesh and blood, but he's been out of practice with toddlers for too many years to cope with anyone else's sprogs

So when an alien device decided to regress Chekov into a four-year-old toddler, Bones is ill equipped to deal with him. He's a doctor not a playschool teacher, he firmly tells Jim, and so trying to perform tests on a fidgety four years old, who's fascinated with every bit of machinery he sees, and so far has tried to grab at every scanner and hypo Bones is trying to use, is proving harder then expected.

It's even worse that the kid barely speaks any English, preferring to chatter quite happily in Russian, a language which Bones freely admits to being unable to speak, not to mention the kids seemingly endless curiosity and enthusiasm for practically everything. Bones doesn't even want to start on how the kid tried to reprogramme the main replicator system to give only chocolate ice cream and strawberries.

So far, little Chekov's managed to drag McCoy down several lengths of Jeffries tubes that he's been exploring, and Bones is constantly bringing the kid back from when he goes off to find Uhura which- although the women is the only one who can understand what Chekov's saying and has seemingly inexhaustible patience around a toddler who constantly wants to play hide-and-seek- is not helpful when McCoy is trying to work out how to get the older, and slightly more mature Chekov back.

All this is why Bones is finally at his wits end, so when Chekov tries to grab his PADD with ice-cream sticky fingers from the doctor, he snaps.

"Stop it. Now!" he says harshly and he's surprised when the kid does exactly that, freezing still, his eyes widening and his lip trembling. He focuses his big frightened eyes on McCoy and before the doctor knows it, tears are running down the infants face.

It's probably good timing when Sulu comes into the med-bay to check on how the toddler is doing, and when Chekov catches sight of the helmsman, he practically runs into Sulu's arms, sobbing "Hik-aroo" into the helmsman's shoulders as Sulu tries to comfort him.

Bones feels a glimmer of regret, after all, it isn't the toddlers fault, he's a child and doesn't know any better, but Sulu's looking at him as though Bones had just threatened his own son, and McCoy can't help but act defensive.

"Just get that kid outta here…and don't come back till I've found a bloody cure!"

"


	4. IV

**IV**

It was just a simple away mission with the three of them; Bones, Sulu and Chekov, collecting igneous rock samples from the planet surface of Dumaras V so they could be further examined onboard the enterprise. Its Chekov's first away mission and even Bone's dour expression and the fact that all they're doing is finding rocks isn't taking the smile off the young Ensigns face. Bone's doesn't think the kid has actually stopped talking to Sulu since they arrived, and what surprises him is the fact that Sulu doesn't seem to mind, and chatters back quite happily to his helm-partner.

It all seems perfectly fine until they enter a nearby cave; well, Bones says cave but it's really little more then an oversized indentation in the rock face, and then things start to turn bad. The sensors haven't picked up any possibilities of seismic activity, but then again the magnetic properties of the rock have making it hard to give a proper reading of the terrain. In any case, none of them are expecting it when suddenly; a landslide starts up, the ground shaking and the rocks inside the cave falling down on them.

Bones must have been hit on the head because when he wakes up, he has a headache akin to a hangover from Romulan ale, and both he and Chekov are trapped inside the collapsed cave/indentation.

Curiously, Chekov seems more worried about Sulu, who is probably on the other side of the rocks.

"Hikaru? Sulu?" Chekov shouts, but either the rocks are too dense for the sound to carry through or Sulu is unable to respond.

"Do you sink Sulu vill be OK?" The kid asks nervously and Bones has to make a real effort not to groan at the questioning. It's not the kids' fault, but his head is killing him and he needs to concentrate so they can find a way to get out.

"I'm sure he's fine kid. Now, we've gotta figure out how to get out of here" But it's clear to Bones as he looks around that the rocks have sealed them in, and if they even try moving them, from anywhere other then from the other side the rocks will cave in on them again.

"We're just gonna have to wait for the others to find us" McCoy sits down on the dusty floor, cursing his luck that even when he's on a "safe" mission, it turns bad

"But what if he's been hurt?" The kid isn't letting up, and Bones can see he's beginning to get agitated now. " Zhose rocks, zhey could haf hit him, he could be unconscious or injured…"

"Ensign, shut up!" Bones snaps, " You need to grow up and stop worrying about Sulu. The guy can take care of himself"

The pain in McCoy's head has flared and he's on a short fuse as it is. Chekov freezes at McCoys shout, and slowly sits down near the doctor, pale and worried-looking, waiting for the rescue they both hope is going to come. Bones is as concerned for Sulu as Chekov is, but it doesn't hit him till later that Chekov is Sulu's best friend, so is obviously going to be worrying about him. It is probably a bit unfair to yell at him, not to mention dangerous in their present environment, but then again Bones has never been one for niceties, as the two of them settle into a worried and uncomfortable silence.


	5. V

**V (I)**

Bones is sitting on a chair next to Chekov's bed, listening to the rhythmic beep of the monitor as it counts out the beats of the Russians heart. He's finally managed to send Sulu to bed after much coercion; even after nearly forty eight hours the helmsman refused to leave Chekov's side, and it's only after Bone's promises he'll stay with Chekov till he wakes that Sulu had allowed himself to be escorted back to his quarters by an equally worried-looking Uhura.

Bones sighs, looking down at Chekov, lying pale and immobile on the bed, his usually bouncy curls flat and lifeless. He never knew that the kid was so important to so many members of the Enterprise and it's only now that he regrets not getting to know the kid better. He's always assumed that no matter how clever the Russian is, a seventeen year old has no place on a federation starship; he's too young, he should have been out living his life, going into bars with fake IDs and trying unsuccessfully trying to chat up women that are way out of his league. It's only recently that Bones found out that the kids got nowhere else to go but the Enterprise; his mother's been long dead and his father kicked him out when he turned sixteen. The Enterprise is his home now, as much as it is now Bones's.

Bones has always overlooked how clever and mature the kid is and how loyal he is to this ship and it's crew, and the doctor only really realises these things after the kids bleeding to death in his arms after pushing him out of the way of a close range phaser.

Chekov looks so young, Bones thinks as he looks down at the kid, willing him to wake up from the coma he's in. He can't understand why the Russian hasn't regained consciousness; he's repaired the mess the phaser made of his internal organs and he's replaced as much blood as he could. The Russian should be awake by now.

But Chekov isn't awake, and Bones is left sitting there, wishing the kid would just open his eyes. He wants to hear him speak with the accent that prevents him from properly saying his 'v's, wants the kid to irritate him by asking innumerable questions and looking so damn innocent and naïve while he does it. He wants to see the kid smile every time he sees Sulu or to seemingly never stop eating but never put on weight or do the millions of other things the kid does that gets on his nerves, and the things that Bones now misses

He knows that wishing is stupid, that it isn't going to help, but it's worth a try. For some reason, Bones feels stupidly protective over Chekov, and he blames himself for getting the kid into this mess. After all, Chekov pushed him out of the way of the phaser shot that was meant for him. It should be him lying on that bed, not Chekov. And it's that fact that he can't get out of his head. If the kid dies, it'll be his fault.

"Dammit kid, wake up" he whispers fiercely, but he only gets the beep of the heart monitor as his response. He wasn't expecting miracles, but it's at this point that he wishes he believed in them.


	6. VI Epilogue

_This epilogue is specifically dedicated to __**momiji'sunusedhalo**__ who requested this, and who so dedicatedly reviews my stories. I am eternally grateful. _

_This is basically just carrying on from chapter 5. Enjoy!_

It's nearly twenty-four hours later, after a whole day of worrying and swearing and re-checking diagnostic scans that Chekov finally wakes up. He slowly opens his eyes, squinting as they adjust to the change in light, looking around to see that he's in the med bay and that Bones is sitting on a chair next to him, tiredly dozing.

"Doctor?" Bones jolts awake at the sound of Chekov's voice- it can only be Chekov's voice with an accent that distinctive, and Bones grins as he sees that the kids going to be OK now. He's not as pale as he was before, and he's got a bit more colour to his cheeks.

"Thank god you're awake, kid" he gives one of his rare smiles, more out of relief then anything else "We all thought you weren't gonna make it. You gave us quite a scare, especially poor Sulu"

"Hikaru?" Chekov says, looking up at the doctor with those big blue eyes that Bones thought he'd never see open again. The kids bloody lucky, that's all he can say, "Is he OK? Vhere is he?"

"Calm down kid. Don't want you straining yourself" Bones says, shaking his head "Woh woh!. Where do you think you're going?" he pushes Chekov gently back by the shoulders as the ensign tries weakly to get out of bed

"To see Hikaru," Chekov says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"You will do no such thing" Bones replies sternly. "I'll get Sulu to come here. Lad's been worrying himself out of his mind". He clicks his commbadge "Chapel? Kid's awake; can you take a break from analysing that blood sample to get Sulu for me? Thanks"

"Is Sulu ok?" Chekov asks worriedly, and Bones almost laughs at the Russians innocence. He's been shot, and been in a coma for almost three days, but the only thing the bloody kid's worried about is how his boyfriend is.

"He's fine" Bones assures Chekov "It's you we were worried about" he runs his tricorder over the Russian, checking his vitals: blood-pressure's fine, heartbeat is stable, thank god. "Are you feeling ok now?"

"Am leetle bit hungry" Chekov mutters, embarrassed at the attention, and Bones has to laugh .He didn't realise how much he missed the Russians quirks; or seemingly-never-ending appetite.

"I'm glad you're ok, kid" he can't help admitting, then reigns in his feelings when the ensign looks at him, saying sternly "I mean, the paperwork would have been ridiculous"

The smile on Chekov's face tells him that he doesn't believe a word of Bones's gruff reasoning. The doctor relents slightly, leaning over and ruffling the kids' hair in a small display of the somewhat paternal affection he feels for the ensign

"Starfleet would have lost a hell of an officer, kid"

"Sank you, Dr. McCoy" Chekov grins

Bones frowns "What for?"

"Saving me" the Russian says simply and Bones wants to reply that it was really Chekov that was the hero, for pushing him out of the path of that phaser, but it's at that moment Sulu arrives, running into the med-bay with a wide eyes, a hopeful yet panicked look on his face.

"Hikaru!" Chekov shouts as he sees the helmsman, laughing as Sulu pulls him into a fierce hug

"Oh God. I thought I was going to lose you, Pasha" Sulu whispers, running his fingers through Chekovs locks as though trying to convince himself that the ensign's really there, alive and breathing in his arms.

Bones smiles as he watches Chekov and Sulu embrace, walking away silently to his office. It's not his place to interrupt, and as he sees Chekov bury his head in Sulu's shoulder, whispering that it's ok, he's really here, Bones doesn't think he even has the heart to.


End file.
